Half Past Mischeif
by Audibug15
Summary: A year after the alien, Alice's cousins move into town, only to meet what the neighbors call "The Chaos Clan." While filming a movie in the tunnels, some weird things begin happening at half past midnight. Will chaos really follow the Chaos Clan and its new members?
1. The Chaos Clan

**Okay, the moment everyone has been waiting for (actually, i'm the only one that has been waiting) here is my Super8 story. It took me a while to type it and get it perfect, but there still may be typos. I am only human! Enjoy!**

**D/C: i do not own Super *. i own all of my O/C's though (Avery, Henson, and Marlene)**

_**The Chaos Clan**_

"Dammit Cary, put out that flame! You'll catch my equipment on fire!" yelled Charles, shoving Cary.

"Alright, alright! Will you just calm down?" Cary shouted back at him. "And don't touch me."

"I will not calm down! If you destroy my equipment, I'll have your ass on a silver platter!"

"What, are you gonna eat that too?" Cary asked, cackling.

"You little…!" Charles didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he began hitting Cary and Cary hit him back, causing another one of their many fights.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Alice. "Sorry about them."

"I'm used to it by now," she giggled.

I smiled. "Okay, good."

"Anyways Joe, back to what I was saying before. My cousins are moving to town from Helena, Montana. They're moving here with my aunt Marlene. Well I was wondering if you guys would mind talking to them. They won't know anyone except me and my dad. So, will you?"

"Sure. We'd be happy to," I answered her. I turned toward Preston and Martin. "Isn't that right, guys?"

They nodded.

I turned toward Charles who was messing with his Super 8 and Cary who was lighting paper towels on fire.

"Hello? Guys!"

They turned to look at me.

"What?" Cary asked me.

I rolled my eyes and looked at them. "We'll befriend Alice's cousins who are moving into town, right?" I asked, widening my eyes and raising my eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, sure. What are their names?" Charles asked.

"Avery and Henson. We used to be really close, but then we moved. I haven't seen them in nine or ten years. Last time I saw them Avery was obsessed with mud and getting dirty, and Henson still wet the bed," Alice answered grinning. "They want a new start. A clean slate."

"Clean slate?" Preston asked.

"Yeah. You don't want to know," Alice warned.

We all shrugged and went back to what we were doing.

OoOoOoOoO

"Alice! Come downstairs, they're here!" my dad yelled.

"Coming!" I shouted back, running down the stairs to the front door. My dad and I went outside onto the porch, looking at the tan 1975 Volkswagen sitting in our driveway. My aunt climbed out of the car looking exhausted, but smiling. I heard two voices from inside the car and saw a blur of fists. There could only be one source: Avery and Henson.

"Ouch! Stop it, asswipe! You'll get blood on my favorite shirt!"

"Blood would be an improvement to it. Get a new damn shirt, dickface."

"Avery and Henson Lindley! I've told you guys not to talk to each other like that! Watch your mouths or I'll wash them out with a bar of soap, you understand?" My aunt said sternly, opening the rear driver's side door. "Now get out of the car. We're driving over to the new house in a couple of hours and until then we're going to spend time with Uncle Lou and Alice."

Henson climbed out of the car, flipped off Avery and raced up the stairs to envelope me and my dad in a massive hug, his chestnut hair tickling my cheek.

"Hey there Henny, how ya been?" I asked him, smiling.

"Henny. I haven't been called that in years. I'm doing well I guess. I'm glad to finally be here. I'm actually excited. How about you, Ali?" He broke into a huge grin, where his smile reached his light grey eyes.

I giggled at my old nickname. "I've been good too."

I heard the slam of a door and the thud of running feet before I was attacked, long blonde hair whipping my face.

"Ali!"

"Av! I've missed you so much!" I squealed with delight. I hadn't been this happy in a while.

"Back at 'cha," she said when she let go, grinning the same way her brother did, her freckles bunching up. She looked so much like her mom. Except for the eyes. She had… his eyes. I shuddered at the thought and shook my head, clearing out the dreadful memory of him.

"So what do you do in this little town anyways?" Avery asked after my aunt and dad went inside. She glanced up and down the street, examining the neighborhood. Martin was down at the end of the street in his yard. Avery was staring intently at him, but he didn't look up from his project.

"I mostly hang out with my friends and we just make movies for contests. Charles is big on the movie making deal. Every day is an adventure in Lillian. That swing over there in the tree was used to make Cary 'fly' in one movie."

"Man that is sweet!" Henson exclaimed, running for the swing.

"How many people do you normally hang out with?"

"Well there is Charles, of course. That kid down the street right there is Martin. Then there's Joe, Preston, and Cary," I answered.

"No girls?" she asked amazed. "Damn, that's all we had over in Montana. So when will I meet these friends of yours?"

"I dunno. It'll probably be soon. Everyone is curious about the new people since this town is so small."

"Kids!" my aunt yelled from inside, interrupting our conversation. "Come inside and catch up!"

OoOoOoOoO

"Cary, do you think you have enough explosives? One spark and you'll blow the whole neighborhood up," Preston teased.

Cary smirked and shook his head. "Nah, just my house."

Charles interrupted the conversation. "So I have an idea for the contest. We need another love story. I was thinking about having the main girl character fall in love with a zombie. The zombie ends up changing her, using her as a weapon to take over the town but realizes that what he did was wrong. He destroys himself. We can use the tunnels in the graveyard! It'll be perfect!"

Martin shook his head and stammered, "No. No w-way am I g-going back down there! I was sent there for clean up duty a few months ago. There were body parts and-" he stopped suddenly, running to go vomit. He didn't make it in time and threw up on the carpet.

"Shit! Nice going Barf-in. Now my room is going to smell like ass," Cary grumbled.

"It already does," Charles smirked.

"Your room smells worse with all that food stowed away under your bed!" Cary shot back.

"That's no fair! You know I have to hide my snacks from the twins!"

"Hey guys, look," I said pointing to the window. We peered out looking across the street at the house that had recently been sold. There were two figures in the yard, one boy and one girl. The boy was doing back flips on the ground and the girl was mixing something in a large bowl.

"Those must be Alice's cousins. Let's go talk to them," I said getting off the bed and putting my shoes on.

"Wait, one of them is a girl?" asked Martin. "I thought Avery and Henson were guy's names."

"That's because you're a dumbass," Charles told him.

Martin scowled and I heard Cary whisper to him, "It's okay Smartin, I thought that too." He patted him on the back and went to get his backpack.

"Come on guys, follow me," I said to them.

Cary rolled his eyes. "I don't need to follow you. I'm sure I know the way out of my own house."

"Alright smartass. Come on before I rip your braces out of your mouth," I snapped at him.

"Oh the hostility," Cary said holding back laughter.

We went down the stairs, out the front door and stopped.

"What are we gonna say?" Preston asked worried.

"Introduce ourselves? Easy. What's the worst they could do?" I asked.

"Don't say that! Now the worst thing possible is going to happen because you said that! Thanks a lot genius! Haven't you ever seen a horror film before?" Charles yelled exasperated.

"Why so negative Charles?" Cary teased.

"Shut up Chompers!" Charles boomed.

"I'd like to see you make me, fatass," Cary yelled back.

I glanced over and caught the girl staring at us. I don't blame her; we were being very loud. She had a curious look on her face. I waved at her, but she went back to mixing, completely ignoring me.

We just stood there watching Henson and Avery- whichever one was which- until Charles started walking across the street toward them. We all hurried to catch up. Martin- who had longer legs- reached the girl first. He stood there for a minute waiting for her to look up, but she didn't. Finally he spoke.

"Hi. I'm uh… Martin," he extended his hand. She didn't take it. She hadn't even looked up. He pulled his hand back and wiped it on his pants leg. He must have been sweating. "What's your name?" She still didn't pay any attention to us.

"Maybe she's deaf," Cary said. He walked up to her and leaned in. "Are you deaf?!" he shouted. We started cracking up.

"No, but I will be if you yell in my damn ear again," she hissed back.

"'Bout damn time you said something," Cary smirked.

She looked up and glared at him, her green eyes cold and hard. About that time, her brother came up.

"Avery, stop being a brat. Sorry guys, she's been in a bad mood all day." He smiled at us and held out his hand. "I'm Henson."

I shook his hand. "I'm Joe." The other guys shook Henson's hand too and introduced themselves.

"I'm Charles. Nice to meet you guys."

"Martin. I like your hat."

"Preston."

"Mr. Sexy. Ouch! Dammit Charles, fine! I'm Cary."

"It's nice to finally meet some kids around here. We've been in that house for three days unpacking. We finished this morning. We met a few of the neighbors, like Mr. Payne, Mrs. O'Leary, and Mr. and Mrs. Mahony. Mostly adults. We did see that girl, what was her name again? Jackie Goldman. She's a looker," Henson winked. Avery looked up at him and rolled her eyes.

"Jackie Goldman, huh? No kidding." Preston said shocked and shook his head. "How'd you get her to come over here and talk to you?"

"All I did was showed her some of my back flips. You know, like stunt people do in movies. She talked to me then."

Charles had a look on his face, and he was studying Henson like he was a new species. I know that look. He has some kind of idea.

"Hey, we're into making movies-"

"No, you're into making movies," Martin interrupted.

"Shut up. Anyways, since you like doing stunts, would you like to be in this one? Avery could do it too. We could always use more set help. So, would you?"

"Yes!" Henson exclaimed excitedly.

"No," Avery said flatly. "We don't wanna do that."

"Yes. Yes, we really do," Henson answered again, covering Avery's mouth.

She elbowed his ribs and he dropped his hand.

"Don't cover my mouth," she said slapping his arm.

He held his hands up in surrender and she sighed.

"What are you making Avery?" Cary asked, peering into the bowl. Avery instantly lit up and tilted the bowl so all of us could get a look.

"I'm making slime," she grinned.

"My sister has a fascination with all gross things. And science," Henson said grinning at his sister.

Charles practically died of sheer joy. "That's perfect! You guys are perfect! Please, help with the movie?" he begged Avery since Henson had already said yes.

Part of me wondered why Charles wanted Avery to be in the movie. All she would be doing would be standing around and maybe helping me with the makeup if she was any good with that sort of thing. Judging by how she looked now, I'd say she was decent. Looking at her, I could see she looked a lot like Alice. She had the same long blonde hair, except hers wasn't as straight. They had the same shaped face, the same ski sloped nose, and the same spatter of freckles. The only major difference was their eye color. Alice had warm blue eyes. Avery's eyes were acid green, and cold. Very cold. I guess if Charles couldn't have Alice, he was going to get the next best thing.

Avery looked around and down the street, like she didn't want to be seen talking to us. Finally she sighed and spoke. "Fine. I'll be in your stupid movie. It's not like I have anything better to do."

Charles ignored the comment about his movie being stupid and grinned. "Alright! Meet us at the abandoned house near the school. Midnight. You won't need directions. Don't be late."

"We won't be late," Henson answered, shaking his head quickly.

"Good. Oh and Avery," he turned to look at her, "Bring the stuff to make a lot of that slime, and some red food coloring."

Avery nodded. "Okay. Want us to pick up Alice tonight? I've been dying to drive Uncle Lou's car." She grinned wildly.

"Sure, whatever," Charles said. "Just do not, I repeat DO NOT, be late. I absolutely will not wait around for you guys."

Avery cocked her eyebrow. "Whatever you say," she declared, grabbing Henson by the arm and dragging him inside.

"Bye! See you guys later!" Henson called before disappearing into the house.

I waved.

"Charles, you may have your hands full with this one. Quite sassy," winked Cary. "Totally your type."

"Shut up, Cary! God!" Charles yelled, turning red in the cheeks.

"I can already tell, she'll be another Alice Dainard," Martin whispered to the rest of us.

"You have no idea…" Charles mumbled trailing down the street.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Will you just shut up? You'll wake up mom," I whispered angrily. "We'll never be able to go if that happens. Hell, we'll never be able to go anywhere ever if we get caught sneaking out in this new town. It was bad enough back home."

"You'd find a way around it. You always do."

"Just come on shitface. Let's go get Ali," I whispered, gently opening my window and jumping to the tree outside. Henson followed my lead and swung down to the ground.

As soon as he hit the ground, the porch light came on.

"Run!" Henson yelled.

I took off across the street and ran right into the braces kid, knocking us both down.

"Ow! Watch where you're going," he said getting off the ground.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"It's okay," he sighed grabbing my hand and pulling me up.

"Avery! Hey, Avery!" Henson called. "I just remembered something," he busted out laughing. "The porch light is motion sensitive. Mom didn't cut it on."

I mimicked like I was wiping sweat away. "Thank God." I looked over at braces kid who was dusting dirt off his jeans.

"Wanna come get Alice with us? We'll give you a ride to that house or whatever," I told him.

"Sure, that'd be great," he smiled. "Hey, I made an M-80. Wanna see?" he asked hopefully.

"Um, okay," I said as we walked down the road.

He smiled really big and pulled one out of his pocket along with a rusty lighter. He lit it up and threw it.

Bang! Crackle Crackle! Bang!

I grinned. "Dude, that's awesome! Got anymore?" I asked.

He smirked. "Do I have anymore? Of course I do. I'm Cary Grant, I always have more. I love explosives!" He said excitedly.

A woman stormed out of her house in rollers and a floral type gown. "Cary Grant! Is that you?!" she yelled squinting her eyes.

"Shit, run!" Cary yelled. We took off, laughing hysterically.

"Stop with those damn bomb things, you pyro!" she hollered.

We slowed down giggling.

"Man, I like you already," I told Cary.

He smiled, showing off his huge blue braces. "Well thank you, what a thrill that is to me," he said snorting and bowing. We walked quietly for a few minutes before he spoke again. "So how old are you guys?"

"Avery is fifteen, and I'm fourteen," Henson answered. "What about you?"

"I'm fifteen," he told us. "Where are you guys from? I think Alice told us, but I wasn't really paying attention. Sorry. I've lived here my whole life."

"Well we were born in Mebane, North Carolina. We moved to Helena, Montana when I was a year old. Now we're here," Henson told him kicking a rock down the street.

"Why'd ya move so much?" he asked Henson.

"Well we moved from North Carolina to be closer to our family and we moved from Montana because… we needed change," he said, glancing nervously at me. I gave him a small smile and nodded my approval. I saw him visibly relax.

"Oh. Hey, how do you make that slime stuff, Avery?" Cary asked me, changing the subject.

I simpered, glad to be off the topic of my family and glad that he took interest in my passion for gross and somewhat ambiguous things.

"Oh, it's easy. I'll teach you sometime. Then we can mass produce the sheer beautiful creation that occurs when combining borax and glue."

"Cool," he beamed.

"Oh hey, we're here," I told them, looking up at Ali's big white house with the navy shutters. "Come on, let's go to her window." We sneaked around back, avoiding all the yard obstacles that were no doubt some of Uncle Lou's unfinished projects. He never really did finish anything. Her window, to our disappointment, was on the second story.

"Damn, how do you guys normally get up there?" I canvassed, turning to Cary.

He shrugged. "We never have. She always meets us with the car."

I groaned, frustrated. I looked up at the window and saw that there was a sub-roof, hanging over the porch and under her window. That gave me an idea.

"You guys give me a boost up there," I commanded them.

"How?" Cary asked, looking confused.

"Come here, I'll show you," Henson told him. "We do this all the time, because we sneak out a lot. Cross your arms out in front of you. Uh-huh, now grab my hands. Yeah, now cup them while still having a hold of my hands. Yup, like that. Avery is going to put her foot in our hands and we're going to lift her up."

I grabbed their shoulders and stepped into their hands.

"One… two… three!" Henson whisper shouted.

They were a lot stronger than I had anticipated, forcing me up in one swift motion, causing me to lose my balance. I grabbed the ledge of the roof before I had time to fall. "Hey, can you guys jump or something? I can't make it yet."

"I have a better idea. Cary, raise your hands over your head. That'll push her up."

I braced myself, ready to put my knee on the roof. I pulled up while they lifted, throwing myself on the roof with a thud. I lay very still, in case I woke up Uncle Louis.

"Avery?" I heard Henson call. "Avery? This is not funny. Answer me," he said louder.

"Shut up!" I whispered. "Before I come down there and take your amazingly flexible limbs and break them."

I heard Cary let out a snort and smiled to myself.

"Hold on a second, I'll go get Alice," I called down to them. I tip-toed to her window and tapped on it. She opened her curtain and peered out. "Open the window," I mouthed. She nodded and opened it.

"What's up? Did something happen?" Alice asked, confused.

"No, everything is fine. Charles wants us to meet him at the house near the school for some kind of movie thing." I checked my watch and shook my head. "We have fifteen minutes until we have to be there. So, come on! Get your stuff!"

"Avery, tell Alice to hurry up or I'll throw a firecracker through the window!" Cary whispered as loud as possible.

"Is that Cary?" Alice questioned me.

"Yeah. We ran into him while we were leaving our house. Literally. I offered to give him a ride, so he came with us."

"Cary, huh? Hmmm… I think you guys will get along just fine. Now Charles on the other hand… not so much."

"Yeah, you aren't kidding. I can already tell that."

"Enough chit-chat! Get your asses down here!" Henson yelled.

"Shut up, dammit! We're on the way," I called down. "Now stop freaking shouting, you'll get us caught." Alice climbed out of her window and we crawled over to the edge of the roof.

"Okay, grab my feet, I'm coming down," Alice spoke softly. She carefully began to lower herself down the side of the porch.

"Pshh, screw this," I said aloud. I jumped down and landed crouched on my feet.

"Avery, don't do that again. That's like twelve feet up in the air. You could have broken something," Henson fussed at me.

I giggled and punched his arm. "Aw, is my little brother worried about me?" I teased.

"Honestly, yes. Some of the shit you do is crazy. I just don't feel like having to explain to mom why your bone is sticking out of your leg."

"Gee thanks," I said, rolling my eyes. "How thoughtful." I glanced down at my watch. Six minutes? What? "You guys run to the car! We have six minutes to be there!"

We took off, stumbling around front to the car and jumping in. I threw the stuff to make the slime in the backseat with Cary and Henson while Alice searched the visor for the spare key. She found it and handed it to me and I cranked the car up and threw it in reverse, speeding out of the driveway. I knocked over the trashcan during my exit.

"By the way, a dog knocked over the trashcan. You shooed him away," I glanced at Alice.

"Dog. Gotcha."

I was flying like a bat out of hell when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

"What?" I snapped, turning my head to see that it was Cary.

"You do realize that we're the ones giving them a ride to the graveyard. They can't really go anywhere unless they walk, because we have the car," he told me, grinning so big that his cheeks touched his eyes.

"Oh. Right." I paused for a second and giggled, speeding up.

"That means you can slow down," Alice gasped, pulling my arm.

"No, I have a better idea. Cary, get out a firecracker. When I say three, light it and throw it out the window. We're gonna scare us a fat boy." I grinned and evil grin and caught Cary's eye in the rearview mirror. He was giving me an equally evil smile.

"Sweet! This is going to be rad!"

I sped around the corner and caught sight of the guys.

"Ready? One… two… three! Throw it!" I yelled.

He chucked it out the window and it landed a foot away from Charles, exploding as it hit the ground.

"AHHHH!" We heard the boys scream and saw them take off running.

"It almost hit him!" yelled Henson.

"Almost and did are two totally different thing," I said, rolling my eyes. Henson could be melodramatic sometimes.

We climbed out of the car and walked over to the guys, who were trying to steady their breathing.

"What the HELL, Cary?! I saw my life flash before my eyes! I'm going to strangle you!" Charles screamed in Cary's face.

"As badly as I want to see you try to wrap your meaty hands around my throat, and I really would, I have to give credit for this wonderful idea to someone else," Cary laughed.

Charles immediately turned to Alice and glared.

"Don't look at me," she said defensively.

He turned to Henson.

"No way man, I didn't do it."

Charles slowly turned his head to meet my eyes.

"Bingo! Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" I shouted.

He just glared.

"Oh come on man, it was a joke. Don't be such a loser," I said to him, crossing my arms.

"A joke?" he asked through clenched teeth. "A joke? I could have died! We all could have died! But that doesn't matter, right? As long as you got your laugh, everything is okay," he said coldly.

"You would not have died, Charles. I told Cary when to throw it. I wouldn't let it get close enough to blow you up."

"Like you could control where it went?!" Charles roared.

"Ever thought of being in your own movies? Because you'd make a great actor, given how dramatic you are," I said nonchalant.

"Stop being such a smartass!" Charles yelled.

"Charles, stop yelling at her!" Alice snapped.

I turned on my heel and started walking back from the way we came. I remembered the keys and tossed them to Alice, who caught them in one swift motion.

"Where are you going?" she asked astonished.

"Home."

"You can't go home. We have a movie to make, and you have to make the slime. You can't just leave," Charles yelled annoyed.

"Oh yeah? Watch me," I called back.

"Just apologize for over-reacting," Joe told him.

""No way. I'm not saying sorry for anything."

"Here I go. Around the corner in five, four, three, two-"

"Wait!" Charles called to me.

"Yes?" I said stopping, my back still facing him.

"Just do it man," I heard Preston murmur.

Silence.

"I'm waiting."

"I'msorryforoverreacting," he said quickly.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," I teased.

He sighed. "I'm sorry for over-reacting. Now will you come on so we can make the movie?"

I turned around and smirked. "Aw, why didn't you just say so? I'd be happy to help with your movie."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on guys, get in the car."

As he turned to get into Uncle Lou's car, Cary caught my eye and grinned, giving me two thumbs up. I smiled my mischievous smile and stuck my tongue out at him. I have a feeling me and this Cary guy are going to become good friends. He shrugged and climbed into the car.

"Hey, how the hell are we going to fit in here? It seats six and there are eight of us," I observed.

"We squeeze. Unless you want to ride on the roof," Joe joked.

"Don't tell her that! She'd do it in a flat second. Get in the car Avery, not on it," Henson commanded.

"Aw, that's no fun," I pouted, but climbed into the car. Well I wouldn't really say climbed in. More like pushed and shoved and squished my butt in the seat because Martin climbed in at the same time beside me. I was now squished in between Cary and Martin. Henson was on the other side of Cary and beside Preston, while Alice was driving beside Joe with Charles in the passenger's seat. Needless to say, we were not comfortable in the slightest and everyone was talking at once.

"Hey I think we should make an atomic bomb for this movie. No really guys, it'll work this time! If you take M-80's and group 'em together…"

"Alice, could you slow down? I think I'm gonna hurl."

"…and then I ran up the wall and flipped."

"This focus ring fits perfectly. Donny actually got the right part this time."

"My model, the blue one, took me weeks to build. I'd never blow that one up."

"Aw, I forgot the money for the phone!"

"Preston, we aren't going to the train station. We're going to the graveyard, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Why are we going to the graveyard?" Henson asked.

"The tunnels are there," Charles answered.

"Tunnels? In the graveyard? Why are they there?" I piped up confused.

Everyone got quiet. Alice was the one to answer.

"Avery, you remember the thing I told you on the phone? The thing you weren't supposed to tell anyone except Hen?"

I thought for a second. _Oh!_

"Yeah, of course. How could I forget that?"

Henson poked me and as I turned my head to look at him, which was a difficult task, considering I was basically pinned to the seat.

"_What?_" he mouthed.

"_The alien thing,_" I mouthed back.

"_Oh_," he mouthed, nodding.

"Well, the graveyard is where it lived. In the tunnels it dug out," Alice finished.

"And we're going in there?" I asked shocked.

"That's what I said," Martin muttered.

"Is Avery scared? Don't worry, I'll protect you from the monsters," Cary told me smugly.

"I'm not scared," I smiled, "far from it. This is going to be so cool!"

"I know right?" Charles grinned. _Wow, we actually agree on something_.

"Man, I thought you were on my side," Martin said disappointed.

"Nope. I live for this kind of stuff."

"She really does," Henson told them.

"Why can't we just go to the station?" Preston asked.

"Because it isn't completely rebuilt yet," Joe answered in a "duh" tone.

"So? We're going to let a little construction stop us from getting… production value?" Preston asked, unsure of the term.

"That is not production value. We'd be missing out on production value if we didn't go to the graveyard tonight," Charles said loudly. _Charles has a loud voice_.

"You guys," Alice began, turning around, "are you sure we should go there? I mean, you never know what's down in those tunnels."

"Alice, look out!" Joe screamed.

_**BAM!**_

That tree came out of nowhere…


	2. Catastrophe

**_Second chapter of my Super 8 installment. I hope you guys enjoy it! Reviews are welcome! They warm my heart and make me want to write more *WINK WINK* So without further ado, here it is!_**

**_D/C: I obviously don't own Super 8. I do, however, own my characters. Ya know, the ones not mentioned in the movie._**

**_Catastrophe_**

The dust, smoke, pollen-or whatever that was- hung in the air, making us all cough.

"Oh my gosh, is everyone okay?!" Alice asked us sounding really worried.

"Never better," I spluttered. "Anyone hurt?"

"I'm not hurt. I do have a scratch though," Preston told us, examining his arm. "Anyone got a Band-Aid?"

"Fresh out from last week's escapade. Sorry," Joe said apologetically.

"Thank god, my camera survived!" Charles shouted. "What were you thinking?!" He yelled, whirling around to look at Alice, who was shaking worse than a washer during the spin cycle.

"Oh yeah, 'cause I totally meant to do it. 'Oh there's a tree. I think I'll fucking crash into it and ruin my dad's car!'" Alice froze. "Oh no! Dad's car!" She whipped the door open and practically jumped out. We all scrambled out of the car, happy to stretch our cramped legs.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Look at the front!" she yelled.

I walked around the front and saw it was smashed in. it was extremely noticeable.

"Anyone know how to get out a dent?" Avery asked weakly.

"A dent that big?" I asked her. "No."

"My dad is going to kill me!" Alice wailed. "Cary, smell it. See if it smells weird. See if it is gonna blow up," she commanded.

I stepped up to the smashed in front and took a whiff. Only thing I smelt was the smoke. No fire and no explosions. I told her as much.

"Okay, so at least it isn't totally messed up. My dad won't completely kill me, he'll just put me in a coma," Alice huffed.

"We don't have time to worry about your dad's car now," Charles said annoyed. "We're wasting movie minutes. Now come on," he said trekking away from the car, making the others follow.

"Insensitive bastard," I heard Alice mutter under her breath.

I offered her a somewhat comforting pat on the shoulder, and she gave me a small smile before walking to join the others.

"So where are these tunnels?" Henson asked. "I don't see them anywhere."

"They're in that garage thing. It takes up all the flooring in there. You gotta be careful not to fall in," Joe said.

"Fall in? How could we- Ahhh!" Avery screamed as we walked in the garage, almost falling in the gaping hole that covered the floor.

"Well for one, you could walk right into it. That'll do the trick," I told her smirking as Charles grabbed her hand so she wouldn't nose dive into the black unknown.

"Joe did say to be careful," Charles giggled.

"Shut up, Chuck. Let's just go down there, alright?" Avery snapped.

"I'm in charge. Let's go down now. Cary, throw the sparkler," Charles commanded.

I got out my assortment of fireworks and firecrackers. I had blasting caps, dynamite, flash powder, bottle rockets, Catherine wheels, cherry bombs, M-80's, M-1000's, sparklers, pinwheels and a bunch of other kinds. I opted for the standard sparkler. I didn't wanna blow anything up… yet.

"Alright you guys, here we go. This will scare away the souls that have been lost down there," I said grinning and dropping the lit sparkler down the gap. It hit the bottom with the small thud.

"Shut your face, Cary! That isn't funny!" Alice hollered, scared. "Don't joke about that!"

"Okay, sorry man," I said holding my hands up in surrender. "Don't tell me you believe in ghosts?"

"Okay, I won't tell you," Alice huffed.

"You do?" I snickered and held back my spurt of laughter.

"Why wouldn't I? I didn't believe in aliens, and look what happened last year in 8th grade."

I shut up. She had a point.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she said sternly.

"Enough talk. Give me the rope," Charles demanded quickly, turning to Joe. Joe unstrapped his backpack, grabbed the rope, and handed it to Charles, who tied it to a beam and threw the rest into the hole.

"Alright, who wants to go first?" he asked.

"I'll go!" Henson yelled excitedly.

"Any takers?" Charles asked. "No one else?"

Henson was jumping up and down all excited and what-not.

"Okay, I guess Henson can go. Then Joe, Avery, Cary, Alice, Me, Preston, and Martin. In that order."

"Yes! I get to smell the putrid filth of the decaying bodies first!"

"Ew! Shut up Henson! I'm going to barf," Martin bellowed, turning a ghastly shade of green.

"You have a really weak stomach Smartin," I teased.

"Don't call me that! I hate it when you call me that," he pouted.

Glancing over, I saw that Henson had gone down, and Joe was about halfway. Avery started to go, and Preston and Martin were trying to work up the courage to go when it was their turn. I tiptoed over to the rope and grabbed on, sliding down. I felt the rope hot against my hands. I knew I had rope burn now.

I was more focused on the rope than stopping at the halfway point. I smacked into Avery and we both let go. I guess that's what I get for not paying attention.

"Ahhh! Cary! What the hell?!" Avery yelled.

"I'm sorry bro! I didn't mean to," I told her.

"I think I re-dislocated my shoulder dammit," she complained.

"Oh boo hoo. Here let me help you pop it back into place."

"That's the least you can do… dork…" I heard her mutter. I smiled to myself and felt my way along the tunnel wall until I felt Avery. I accidentally grabbed her face."

She grunted. "That isn't my shoulder, that's my face."

"No wonder it felt weird," I said sarcastically. "I know it's your face." I felt lower, looking for her shoulder. I grabbed the first thing I felt.

"Cary… does that feel like my shoulder?" she asked slowly.

"Uh… no. No it doesn't," I answered.

"Then let it go," she told me.

"Just give me your arm," I demanded.

"No. I got it, I'm good." I heard a pop and another grunt.

"what are you guys doing? Come on!" Charles hollered.

"Relax man! We're on the way," Avery called back.

"Anyone got a flashlight?" Joe asked us.

"I do," Alice said. I heard her unzip her bag and a second later I saw the beam of light.

"Thank god! It was dark," Preston sighed with relief.

"Nooo, really?" Henson said in mock shock.

"Watch your step guys. It's very rocky," Charles told us.

We stopped at a big clearing and dropped our stuff.

"More light would be greatly appreciated I can't see to find my slime making stuff."

"I got you covered. I have candles," I told Avery, getting them out of my backpack and lighting them.

"Thanks. Let's see, borax, red food dye..." Avery was muttering to herself as she looked through the contents of Henson's bag. "Rubber chicken... Wait, rubber chicken? Henson, what is this?" Avery asked slightly amused.

"It's a rubber chicken. Duh," Henson answered sarcastically.

"Yes, I know that. Why do you have this rubber chicken?"

I tuned out of their conversation, not sure if I really wanted to know why he had that rubber chicken.

Everyone was having their own conversations. Martin and Preston were talking about Math Camp, Joe and Charles were talking about film and how Joe should do the makeup for the lighting, Avery and Henson were still talking about rubber chickens, and Alice was pacing back and forth talking to herself. I kept hearing the phrase "Dad's car" in the mix.

"Alright guys," Charles interrupted," you know what to do. Joe, do the makeup. Alice does costumes, Cary get the camera set up, and Martin get the sound working. Preston, you can spread the candles out and kind of hide them from view. Henson, help Joe, and Avery start making slime. Make it extra red," Charles boomed.

"If we already knew what to do, why'd you tell us?" Preston asked him.

"And so it begins," I muttered, grabbing the camera and the tripod.

Everyone started working, continuing their chatter.

"Use the green and mix it with the brown. It makes the color more zombie-flesh-like..."

"Does the costume have to be green? Can't it be pink?"

"No Alice, green is a zombie color. You can't have a girly zombie..."

"Borax and clear glue, five dots of food coloring. Oh c'mon, mix! Damn wooden spoon..."

Everyone else was busy, except me. Charles had given me one of the simplest jobs. I took out my M-80's and decided to mess around while everyone else was busy working.

I lit one and threw it. It landed in one of the worst places. It landed in one of the bowls of slime.

"Everyone duck!" I yelled.

SPLAT!

Red slime shot everywhere.

I got up off of the ground and looked around the clearing. Avery was the next to get up, along with Henson and Joe.

"Oh. My. God. This is... awesome!" Avery yelled. "Cary, Cary you're a genius!"

"I am? Oh, yeah. I am." I grinned. _Finally, someone seen my value and true smarts._

Charles and the rest of them stood up. They were covered in slime. Charles had blobs of it on his jacket, Preston had it on his shirt, Joe, Martin, and Henson had it all in their hair, and Avery had it in her hair, on her face, and all over her clothes. Alice and I were the only ones left untouched.

"Martin, ya got a little something in your hair," Joe told him, holding back laughter.

Martin reached up to grab it, only squashing it in his hair even more.

"Ah! It feels like guts!" He screamed.

"That's because it is!" Joe yelled back, wiggling his fingers around.

That was it. Martin leaned over and let go of his dinner and his late night snack all over his shoes.

"Aw c'mon Martin! That's disgusting!" Alice shrieked.

"What did you eat for dinner man? Curdled milk and clam chowder?" Avery gagged.

The tunnel began to stink. Bad. We all started gagging.

"Martin, I've never seen puke that color before! Are they always this odd-looking?" Henson asked him in amazement.

Martin shrugged wordlessly and looked around embarrassed.

Charles hadn't said a word. We all turned to stare at him. He stood there for a minute, examining the mess. Finally, he spoke.

"We have to get out of here It's starting to make me wanna throw up. Get everything put away, I have an idea."

We packed away all of our stuff, but didn't bother trying to clean the mess off of us. We just wanted to leave. It smelt god awful down there.

One by one we climbed up the rope and threw ourselves onto the ground. We took in the cool clean air like it was our last dying breath. we all lay there until the gagging subsided.

"Alright," Charles panted, " we're going to put the slime in the movie, but we're going to have it explode. It'll look like blood spattering everywhere. Cary, you're in charge of making it blow up. Obviously. Avery, you'll make the slime. Again, obviously. You two need to meet up tomorrow and get this going. When you think you've got it right, come get me. I'll check it."

"What, are you afraid my slime won't be good enough?" Avery asked defensively.

"I just want it to be perfect," he shrugged.

"You guys, can we leave? I want to go to bed," Preston complained.

"Yeah, come on, let's go," Joe told us, gesturing toward the beat up car. "I don't want to be caught out this late. My dad will be pissed."

"Avery, will you drive back? I don't trust myself with dad's car at the moment."

"Sure, c'mon. Get in," Avery said trudging to the car and climbing into the front seat.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo O

"So we'll see you guys tomorrow?" I asked as the boys climbed out of the car.

"You bet. Even if you don't want to," Joe grinned.

"Alright... now get out," I winked.

"Well fine then. See you tomorrow Henson. Alice," Joe nodded toward them and shut the door.

The guys were jumping up and down and throwing Twizzlers in each other's faces, laughing like little school girls.

I waited until I couldn't see them anymore before I put the car in drive and drove away.

"I'm sorry for crashing you guys. I'm usually a really good driver. I just didn't look where I was going," Alice stammered.

"Don't apologize to us. I feel sorry for you. You are going to be in the deepest kind of shit when your dad finds out," I told her, glancing in the rearview mirror.

"We can help you cover it up for a bit though," Henson assured her.

"It won't matter. He'll see it."

"Yeah, but we can buy you some time," I told her, slowing down and pulling into her driveway.

I cut the engine and we got out. I walked around to the front to assess the damage.

"Hmmm... do you have a big tarp? A twenty-foot one?" I asked Alice.

"We have a fifteen foot one. Will that work?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Where is it?"

"It's under the porch. We have bungee cords too."

"Get them both. We're gonna strap that tarp on the car," I said as she got me the stuff.

We spread the tarp over the car and hooked the bungee cords around it.

"There. No one will be able to tell... until they move the tarp. But until that happens, it's as good as new," Henson said wiping his hands on his pants.

"Okay. That's about as good as it's gonna get. Now help me in the window. I'm ready to go to bed," Alice sighed. She started mumbling to herself. I heard her say something along the lines of Uncle Lou ripping her arms off.

We reached the back of her house and gave her a boost up to her window.

"Wish me luck guys. If I go missing, my dad killed me," Alice whisper-shouted.

I giggled. _Drama must run in our family._

"We'll see you later Ali," Henson waved. I waved too and she waved back, giving us a small smile before turning to crawl through her open window.

"Well," Henson whispered after a minute of standing in Ali's yard, "what do we do now?"

"I guess we go home and go to bed. It's like 1:45 in the morning, and I have a big day tomorrow with teaching brace face the art of science."

"Man, why do we have to go home? Let's walk around for a little bit," he suggested.

"Do what you want, but I'm going home. It's late and I'm tired. You know how I am when I'm ready for bed."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Fine, we'll go home. But we'll walk around soon, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," I promised. "But for now, let's go home."

"Alright," he nodded, turning to walk toward the road leading in the direction of our house.

"So out of everyone there tonight, who was your favorite?" I asked nonchalantly.

"I like them all, but Martin and Joe are my two favorites."

"Oh. Why Martin and Joe?" I asked curiously.

"Martin barfs! Over everything! Do you know how cool that is? And Joe just seems really nice and relaxed. He seems up for anything. And I don't even have to ask who your favorite is."

"Yup. It's Charles," I said snorting.

"Yeah, very funny. Hey, do you think Joe likes Alice?"

"Well duh. Even I could see that and you know I'm about as romantic as a toothpick." I rolled my eyes. "I mean, did you see the way he looked at her? And I'm pretty sure she was looking back."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Have they ever dated?"

"I don't think so. She would have told me."

"Yeah, probably. We'll ask her tomorrow," Henson said climbing the tree next to my window. "Good night, Av."

"good night, Hen," I called up to him as he disappeared into the house.

I couldn't wait for tomorrow. I doubt it would be anything short of interesting.

_**If anyone would like a copy of the layout of the town, PM me and I'll send you the picture. I drew it myself, so just be aware that it isn't the best, but it is the general idea!**_


End file.
